Fieger UK report that three of their glazed louvre windows have passed BS6180 loading trials at the Lucideon test centre.
The samples tested were single, double and triple glazed units. In accordance with the British Standard test procedure all units were subject to a minimum imposed load of 1.5kN. The procedure involved horizontal, point and distributed load tests.
The louvres are commonly used to provide natural light and smoke venting to residential buildings, within glazed facades and as a perimeter enclosure on fashionable apartment balcony winter gardens.
The maximum deflection recorded was 16.37mm, against a permitted standard of 25mm. This was in the most severe test, the 1.5kN point loading of the single glazed louvre at its most vulnerable centre point. None of the tested louvre ventilators exceeded their elastic limits, even with a line load force of 3kN. All of the louvres remained functional after the tests.
“We are delighted with these results. To put the tests in perspective, the most extreme test load is equal to the entire weight of two 23 stone men concentrated on a very small area in the centre of one louvre. In reality, should anyone fall against the ventilator the impact is likely to be distributed over a wide area. The distributed weight tests recorded extremely low levels of deflection, the maximum being 3.3mm under a 1.5kN load,” noted Lindsay Eccles, Fieger’s UK managing director.
Fieger glazed ventilation systems are used throughout the UK within glazed perimeter walling. Great care is taken in the manufacture of the units to ensure effective sealing between louvre blades to minimise heat loss by infiltration.
In addition to single-glazed units, double and triple glazing, combined with insulated framework, can be used to achieve very low U values. Electrical actuation is generally deployed for positive opening and closure, although manual options are also available.
Fieger equipment has been installed on many prestigious projects including the Riverlight development in Nine Elms, the Battersea Power Station redevelopment and the Student Hub at Queen’s University in Belfast.